Today's the day... Not for me, but for Hope. It'll never be my day, even in a year when it would be...I'm just not the right kind. But today is Hope's day, and she's so excited that she's probably ready to pee her pants, except that she would never do something like that.
And all I get to do today is grin and bear it while they go through the three-hour ceremony. I have to sit in the stuffy chapel (not to be confused with the Chapel where we live), on a hard bench that makes my butt hurt, and try not to ruffle the feathers on my wings or fall asleep as they go through the ceremony that will make Hope a full-fledged adult in our society, as well as the first female priest ever.
I think it's staying awake that will be the hardest part. Well, that and finding something to wear. I don't think anything in my wardrobe will make it past the chapel doors, but going naked would be even worse. It would be amusing, funny as all hell really, but Hope would die of embarrassment, and Mom would probably be tempted to have me locked in prison for a few days just to make me rethink it. And that's not worth it, no matter how fun it would be.
Still, that leaves me with nothing to wear, except for maybe... But ugh, that is the worst outfit ever, and I'm pretty sure I burned part of it last time I was forced to wear it. Surely Mom won't make me wear it if it has a hole in the jacket, right? She's not that cruel. And surely Hope isn't that self-conscious, that she would rather have her screw up little brother (her non-Mayinist screw up brother for that matter) show up at her coming of age and investment in a burned suit. Wouldn't having me attend in casual clothes be a little less embarrassing to her and the entire family?
Maybe...in my mind. But that's me, and not my family. They're weird, and it's Hope's day, and probably no one would ever see the burn on my jacket. So I bet I'll be wearing that, like it or not. And Deran will be wearing almost exactly the same thing (without the burn), except that it looks good on him. And Dad will be wearing it too...so he'll look good too. After all, he and Deran look alike. I will merely look like a slightly taller version of Mom wearing a suit and with wings...just plain wrong.
Meh, it's all for Hope, I guess. After all, it is her day.